Celebrating Asian heritage

If you're looking for a variety of Asian food, entertainment and, of course, shopping, a Circle-the-Pacific air ticket to a dozen countries will cost you upwards of $2,000. A quicker, more inclusive and -- best of all -- free route is to head to the Greater Richmond Convention Center Saturday for the ninth Asian American Celebration. The biggest dilemma is deciding where to start the trip. Saigt Koh Ang from Cambodia or Nasi Goreng from Indonesia or Singapore Laska? Or maybe you should check out the hands-on activities for kids. Kite making? Origami? Henna hand painting? Calligraphy? You could watch the Thai dancers, listen to the Chinese drummers. Celebrate a mock Indian wedding. Get revved up at the Korean or Japanese martial arts demonstrations or the annual Iron Chef competition. Start some early Mother's Day shopping at the international marketplace, where nothing costs more than $5. "It's amazing to see so many cultures under one roof at one event," said Rumy Mohta, community relations director for the Asian American Society of Central Virginia. The annual event fetes the cultures of more than a dozen communities that have a presence in the Richmond area. And although many of these communities have individual festivals during the year, the Asian American Celebration offers the 50,000 or so Richmond area residents of Asian descent a chance to teach their cultures and celebrate their heritage under one really big umbrella. New to the festivities are Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The featured country this year is India, and festival highlights will include a mock wedding and an Indian dance troupe from the Washington area performing a "Tsunami Wave" dance. By Lisa Crutchfield